Minus Bland, 20-0 season evaporates

Boardman's ace sat out the season finale with an ankle sprain.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
CANTON -- Their maroon warm-up jerseys never came off.
As the Boardman High girls basketball team executed pre-game drills, seniors Amber Bland and Brittany Durkin stood underneath the basket, simply watching and clapping.
One win from a perfect season, and in the Federal League championship game against rival North Canton Hoover, the Spartans were minus two of their high-impact players.
With Bland (ankle) and Durkin (knee) nursing injuries, Hoover dealt the Spartans a 46-36 defeat Friday at the Canton Civic Center.
Because it had accumulated enough points in the Federal League's scoring system, Boardman (19-1) still claimed the championship trophy.
"Don't get me wrong, I don't like to lose," Boardman coach Ron Moschella said, "but our kids wanted the challenge and they rose to the occasion."
Pained
Bland suffered an ankle injury Monday at Blackhawk. She played on it Wednesday in the home finale against Magnificat, but it only worsened thereafter, prompting Moschella to keep her out Friday.
"The maddest person in this building is probably Amber Bland," Moschella said, "but her ankle is the size of a basketball and I'm not going to ruin somebody's career because of one basketball game."
Durkin has courageously battled back from a knee injury.
"If I'm not going to play Amber, I'm not going to play Durkin," Moschella said. "The two came into the program together, and they're going out together."
Boardman senior Diane Snyder said the team learned Thursday at practice of Moschella's decision to sit Bland and Durkin.
"It fired us up more," Snyder said, "because we wanted to play the game for them."
Hanging tough
Even with Bland and Durkin out, the Spartans hung tough early, trailing 14-11 after the first quarter.
"I've seen how the best player goes down and that team kicks it in," Hoover coach Paul Wackerly said.
That reasoning was dashed in the second quarter when Boardman missed all 13 of its shots and was held scoreless by Hoover (12-6), which took a 20-11 halftime lead.
Just when it appeared Boardman was lifeless and finished, the game began to turn its way.
"Our kids started to believe in themselves," Moschella said.
Junior Brittany Sirak (10 points, seven steals) and Snyder intercepted Hoover passes; junior Jessica Moore (10 points, 12 rebounds) become more reliable on the boards; and sophomore April Melquist found her touch from outside.
"We were psyched up," said Snyder, who had four steals. "Once we got things rolling, our enthusiasm went sky high."
The result was pleasing to the Spartans, who whittled their deficit to four points (38-34) with less than five minutes to play.
"They came out against us a little hungrier," Wackerly said. "Both of us [teams] have a lot of tradition. I don't care who you have out there on the floor. In this game, anything can happen."
But the rally ended there and so did the Spartans' chances for a 20-0 season.
"Going undefeated doesn't mean anything to me," said Moschella, who expects Bland and Durkin to be ready for the tournament.
"You know what means something to me? That they learn something from today, and I think they did."
richesson@vindy.com